The Joy of Giving
volunteer
Thanks to our donor Barb Cornelius, Niagara Health was able to purchase new transfer chairs
Volunteers are the first people you meet when you come into the hospital. They are there to greet and guide you during moments that are often stressful or intimidating. One of those friendly faces at Niagara Health belongs to Barb Cornelius, who started volunteering at the Marotta Family Hospital seven years ago.
“After my husband passed away, I needed a reason to get up in the morning,” she recalls. When she tried to decide where to volunteer in addition to her long-standing volunteer role at Community Care, she immediately thought of the hospital. “The hospital is the heart of the city. Most of us start here, and many of us end here. To me, that thought makes it a meaningful volunteer opportunity.”
“The hospital is the heart of the city. Most of us start here, and many of us end here. To me, that thought makes it a meaningful volunteer opportunity.”
In 2021, after Barb had already volunteered at the hospital for a few years, she opened her weekend newspaper one morning and came across a letter that took up an entire page and was signed by Niagara businessman Tom Rankin. “At the time, Niagara Health Foundation was trying to bring an MRI to the St. Catharines hospital,” Barb explains. “Tom was making a significant contribution himself and encouraged other people in Niagara to donate as well,” she remembers. “So I did!”
Barb decided to make a generous one-million-dollar donation to bring this vital equipment to Niagara. In honour of her gift, the area where Barb usually volunteers was named the Kerry Cornelius Outpatient Clinic, in memory of her late husband. “Kerry was a wonderful and generous man. Seeing his name every time I volunteer gives me a lot of comfort. Many people I meet during my shifts remember Kerry, and I very much enjoy chatting with them. I was a teacher for 35 years,” she laughs. “I’m a people person.”
When patients exit the elevator on the fourth floor, where Barb volunteers, they are often anxious. “Patients and their family members are facing the unknown when they come to the Outpatient Clinic. I find that a smiling face and some reassurance goes a long way,” Barb says. “I get a lot of personal satisfaction from volunteering and putting people’s minds at ease.”
Since investing in the MRI, Barb has continued to support Niagara Health Foundation with generous gifts, including donations towards a C-Arm – a specialized real-time medical imaging device that is used by surgeons at Niagara Health. Most recently, Barb made a generous donation towards transport chairs.
“Over the past few months, I noticed that we kept running out of transport wheelchairs while I was volunteering,” Barb says, adding that having the chairs is an important service for patients. “Family members need them when they try to get their loved one to their car after a procedure, labouring women need them sometimes – so when we kept scrambling to find chairs for people, I wanted to help.”
Thanks to her generous donation, 30 new transport chairs and an additional 10 new wheelchairs arrived at the Marotta Family Hospital in August, significantly increasing the number of chairs available to patients and their families.
“It is a donation that directly and immediately improves the patient experience, and I am incredibly grateful for her.” ~ Andrea Scott
Niagara Health Foundation President & CEO, Andrea Scott, is in awe of Barb’s generosity. “Barb is a remarkable woman. She is generous both with her time and her donations, and this recent gift is another example of her great kindness. She identified a need and took action to address it. It is a donation that directly and immediately improves the patient experience, and I am incredibly grateful for her.”
To Barb, making donations is about the joy of giving. “We are so fortunate to have the financial resources to give back. My husband was born in St. Catharines and had very successful businesses here, so it is important to me that the money benefits organizations here in our city.”
It is a belief she also instills in her children and grandchildren. “Whenever I give them a monetary gift, I encourage them to donate some of it, invest some of it and enjoy some of it. It is wonderful seeing which causes they choose to support and how they come to their decision. I want them to feel part of the legacy that their father and, for some, grandfather and I have created, and I want them to know what it’s like to be in the position to give.”
“Not everyone can give a million dollars, but I believe that giving any amount can bring you that same joy. To me, that is what donations are all about – contributing to your community and the joy of making somebody else’s life just a little bit easier.”
The Joy of Giving
Volunteers are the first people you meet when you come into the hospital. They are there to greet and guide you during moments that are often stressful or intimidating. One of those friendly faces at Niagara Health belongs to Barb Cornelius, who started volunteering at the Marotta Family Hospital seven years ago.
“After my husband passed away, I needed a reason to get up in the morning,” she recalls. When she tried to decide where to volunteer in addition to her long-standing volunteer role at Community Care, she immediately thought of the hospital. “The hospital is the heart of the city. Most of us start here, and many of us end here. To me, that thought makes it a meaningful volunteer opportunity.”
“The hospital is the heart of the city. Most of us start here, and many of us end here. To me, that thought makes it a meaningful volunteer opportunity.”
In 2021, after Barb had already volunteered at the hospital for a few years, she opened her weekend newspaper one morning and came across a letter that took up an entire page and was signed by Niagara businessman Tom Rankin. “At the time, Niagara Health Foundation was trying to bring an MRI to the St. Catharines hospital,” Barb explains. “Tom was making a significant contribution himself and encouraged other people in Niagara to donate as well,” she remembers. “So I did!”
Barb decided to make a generous one-million-dollar donation to bring this vital equipment to Niagara. In honour of her gift, the area where Barb usually volunteers was named the Kerry Cornelius Outpatient Clinic, in memory of her late husband. “Kerry was a wonderful and generous man. Seeing his name every time I volunteer gives me a lot of comfort. Many people I meet during my shifts remember Kerry, and I very much enjoy chatting with them. I was a teacher for 35 years,” she laughs. “I’m a people person.”
When patients exit the elevator on the fourth floor, where Barb volunteers, they are often anxious. “Patients and their family members are facing the unknown when they come to the Outpatient Clinic. I find that a smiling face and some reassurance goes a long way,” Barb says. “I get a lot of personal satisfaction from volunteering and putting people’s minds at ease.”
Since investing in the MRI, Barb has continued to support Niagara Health Foundation with generous gifts, including donations towards a C-Arm – a specialized real-time medical imaging device that is used by surgeons at Niagara Health. Most recently, Barb made a generous donation towards transport chairs.
“Over the past few months, I noticed that we kept running out of transport wheelchairs while I was volunteering,” Barb says, adding that having the chairs is an important service for patients. “Family members need them when they try to get their loved one to their car after a procedure, labouring women need them sometimes – so when we kept scrambling to find chairs for people, I wanted to help.”
Thanks to her generous donation, 30 new transport chairs and an additional 10 new wheelchairs arrived at the Marotta Family Hospital in August, significantly increasing the number of chairs available to patients and their families.
“It is a donation that directly and immediately improves the patient experience, and I am incredibly grateful for her.” ~ Andrea Scott
Niagara Health Foundation President & CEO, Andrea Scott, is in awe of Barb’s generosity. “Barb is a remarkable woman. She is generous both with her time and her donations, and this recent gift is another example of her great kindness. She identified a need and took action to address it. It is a donation that directly and immediately improves the patient experience, and I am incredibly grateful for her.”
To Barb, making donations is about the joy of giving. “We are so fortunate to have the financial resources to give back. My husband was born in St. Catharines and had very successful businesses here, so it is important to me that the money benefits organizations here in our city.”
It is a belief she also instills in her children and grandchildren. “Whenever I give them a monetary gift, I encourage them to donate some of it, invest some of it and enjoy some of it. It is wonderful seeing which causes they choose to support and how they come to their decision. I want them to feel part of the legacy that their father and, for some, grandfather and I have created, and I want them to know what it’s like to be in the position to give.”
“Not everyone can give a million dollars, but I believe that giving any amount can bring you that same joy. To me, that is what donations are all about – contributing to your community and the joy of making somebody else’s life just a little bit easier.”
